MRI Blog

Breast MRI is a leading-edge tool for breast cancer screening and diagnosis. Breast MRI offers the highest sensitivity rate of all current breast imaging techniques for the detection of invasive and intraductal cancers. It is often considered one of the best ways to detect the disease in the earliest, and more treatable phase.

Breast MRI may be used when results from a diagnostic mammogram and/or ultrasound are unclear. It may also be used to determine the extent of cancer in the breast tissue, or to assess types of breast cancer that are less easily detected by other breast imaging procedures.

Today, we met Stacey Purdy, MRI and CT Manager at Canada Diagnostic Centres. Stacey has been a Medical Radiation Technologist since 2003 and absolutely loves her job.

"My job is so cool! I love working with MRI; the technology is truly amazing. I really enjoy meeting new people every day, and knowing that I am helping each patient find the answers to their health concerns."

Her enthusiasm and big smile really intrigued us and we wanted to find out more about her job and MRI. She also shared with us her enthusiasm about working with Alberta's Most Advanced Private MRI, starting this fall.

How many patients do you scan on average per day? What are the most common areas you scan?

"We scan anywhere from 10-20 patients per day. We scan every body part, but the most common areas are the lumbar spine, shoulder, knee and brain."

How do you feel about working with the new 3T Signa Pioneer?

"I am so excited to start scanning on this brand new machine! GE’s new technology is jaw dropping and I cannot wait to work with it. It’s faster, reducing scan time and patient time in the machine. The bore is wider, making it more comfortable inside. And with a magnetic field strength of 3 Tesla, the image resolution will be outstanding. It’s going to be a great experience for our patients."

What would you tell patients who are feeling anxious before getting an MRI?

"Even though getting an MRI is a painless procedure, it is quite normal for patients, who have not had this done before, to feel nervous. Before every exam, I explain to the patient, that I am with them and watching them during the entire procedure. I also give them a bell to hold, so when they squeeze it, I am able to pause the exam and speak with them right away.

Our dedicated team of technologists and I will always do everything we can to provide a positive and comfortable experience."

Canada Diagnostic Centres is very excited to bring this advanced MRI technology to Alberta, and continue to provide exceptional patient care to everyone.

Our new MRI is almost ready to go and our MRI reinforcement shield is now in place.

Due to the requirements of our new MRI machine, CDC has taken steps to upgrade our magnetic shielding, which will, in turn, produce the highest quality images. The new MRI, along with a completely renovated MRI suite, will enhance both the patient experience as well as the technical exam environment.

For the duration of this project, we will continue to provide our patients with Exceptional Patient Care from the Mobile MRI Suite.

MRI is the most accurate method of diagnosing many healthy problem and disease of the body. Many areas of the body may be scanned using MRI including: head, breast, spine, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, finger, ankle, foot and body.

MRI is ideal for diagnosing and visualizing tumors, cysts, infections, injuries, spine abnormalities and other conditions.

1. The patient is placed in a strong magnetic field. This cause atomic nuclei within the body, which act like tiny spinning tops, to align themselves with the field.2. MRI scanners are tuned to detect hydrogen nuclei, which are abundant in the tissue of the human body, in the form of water. A carefully chosen radiofrequency pulse is applied, which causes the hydrogen nuclei to flip over.3. As they relax and right themselves again, the hydrogen nuclei emit radio signals at the same frequency as the pulse they just absorbed, a phenomenon called nuclear magnetic resonance.4. The resonance frequency depends on the strength of the applied mmagnetic field. When precisely controlled variations are introduced into the magnetic field, the intensity of the resonance signals indicate the quantity of hydrogen nuclei in a particular location. By applying gradients into these dimensions, it is possible to determine the distribution of hydrogen nuclei within a particular region.This process is repeated to build up a scan in which different types of tissues can be distinguished, since the proportion of water, and therefore of hydrogen nuclei, varies from one kind of tissue to another.

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In 1882, Nikola Tesla discovered the Rotating Magnetic Field in Budapest, Hungary.This was a fundamental discovery in physics. MRI has a complex history and was made possible by contributions from numerous visionary scientists—including a handful of Nobel prize winners—over a period of more than 50 years, incorporating bits and pieces from many different disciplines, such as chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computer science, medicine and, of course, physics.

Canada Diagnostic Centres first open its doors in 1993, when the only other option to get an MRI was at Foothills hospital and the wait to get an MRI scan was 3 months long.

The company started with 1 location in Calgary. The Chinook location is Canada’s oldest and first private diagnostic imaging clinic. The facility operated 2 MRI machines and truly pioneered in the private medical imaging field.

From May to July, our Chinook clinic will be undergoing renovations to enhance our in-clinic patient experience and service offering. During this time, patients will be transitioned from our current MRI suite into our Mobile MRI Suite.

We have ensured there will be minimal impact to you. Please note that apart from the exam taking place in the Mobile MRI Suite, nothing else will change. You will still:

Have your exam on the exact same model MRI machine

Be cared for by the same highly trained MRI staff

Have your MRI read by the same Radiologist, and

Receive your timely, detailed, MRI report and CD

Why is this happening?

We are renovating our Chinook clinic to enhance our patient experience and offerings.